Making Examples of Porn Stars - Another Person's Life Ruined by Japan's Drug Laws

Once again a person's life in Japan is ruined by laws concerning a victimless crime. Japanese porn star and sex symbol, Minako Komukai, has fled the country because a warrant for her arrest has been issued due to alleged violation of stimulant control laws.


It's just another circus and travesty of justice. Don't the police have anything better to do?


I understand completely that this is Japan and people have to follow the rules and laws of the country, but that doesn't mean that people living here shouldn't consider what is or isn't a crime. She allegedly did some drugs, fer chrissakes. She didn't hurt anyone except herself. There is no victim here.


Laurence Vance puts it succinctly, "Just as every husband needs a wife, every child needs a parent, and every teacher needs a pupil, so every crime needs a victim. Not a potential victim or possible victim or a supposed victim, but an actual victim."


The Tokyo Reporter has the story about Japanese Sex Idol and porn star, Minako Komukai, having a warrant issued for her arrest for violating the stimulant control law of Japan. It the second time she has been charged with violating this victimless crime law. 

Of course, all the Japanese media are talking about is Minako Komukai's porn career using this case as some sort of evidence that porn is bad (all the while using it as the excuse to talk about this incident and garner ratings). Maybe porn is bad, but some porn actresses in Japan make over $3 million (USD) annually, so "thar's money in those hills!" (pun intended).


In my own survey, 97% of all men have viewed porn. The other 3% are liars.


Forgive me while I make light of a very serious situation and a big problem in Japan.


The Japanese media examines the question, "Who is Minako Komukai?" But the questions should be, "Who cares?" and "Why should I care what somebody I don't even know puts into their own body?" 


When I compain about a "very serious situation here," I'm not complaining exactly about the problem of drug abuse. I'm complaining about the problem of spending tax money on sending people to prison for committing a victimless crime.


The Tokyo Reporter writes:  

The organized crime division of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police yesterday issued a warrant for the arrest of gravure idol and actress Minako Komukai for violation of the Stimulant Control Law, reports the Mainichi Shimbun (Feb. 9).

Investigators today revealed that she has since fled the country. This is her second drug violation.

Wire service Jiji reports that Komukai, 25, is accused of purchasing stimulants last summer from an Iranian drug ring in Tokyo. One member of the group, who was arrested in October, confessed that she was a regular customer.

Her Twitter account stopped being updated on Jan. 14. The site The Real Live Web notes that one of her last public appearances included AV (porn) production company Soft On Demand’s porn awards show on Dec. 18.

I won't mention how I think this is ridiculous that they'd issue an arrest warrant merely on the  the hearsay evidence of a drug dealer under custody... She hasn't had a court trial and they want to arrest her? 


That seems bad enough, but this is not the point of this article. 


I think it is terrible that this poor woman has to flee the country and ruin her already painful existence with this alleged victimless crime. It's bad for her and it's a huge waste of time and expense for an already taxed out Japanese public.

Think about it, this woman is a porno actress. Just about every one of these people come from broken homes and ply their trade for as long as they can while they are young. It is obvious that appearing in these sorts of movies cannot be a long term money earner. In my most possibly confused thinking, I believe that these people, bless their souls, are not happy people and have had tough childhoods; broken families, parents with alcohol abuse, etc.

If this woman were your daughter, wouldn't you feel guilty that you didn't raise her the way you should have and taught her better self-respect and to know that her body is a treasure for herself and her god? 

I am not a Christian, but even in the bible it says, "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." Corinthians 6:19-20

If you were her parent, wouldn't you go to your grave knowing that you could have done more for her happiness? Actually, this is the lament of all parent's everywhere.

Now, she is threatened with going to prison because she committed the victimless crime of doing drugs? Has this hurt you or me at all because she did drugs? How has she damaged anyone but herself?

Video of her arrested in 2009

Speaking from experience, and, if you've ever done any drugs, or drank too much, for too long, then you should be able to relate to what I am saying: People who abuse their bodies like this have quite enough problems as it is, thank you, without having to worry about going to prison for 5 years because they committed the "crime" of drug abuse.

You'd think that with the Japanese government running a budget deficit of over 200% of GDP they'd find something better to do with precious public funds and be out chasing real criminals and not wasting tax payer monies on ruing the life a some girl who's life is a mess enough as it is.

She is doing speed? So what? As long as she doesn't bother anyone else, that's her body, it's her choice. She doesn't need to be arrested, if anything she needs compassion and needs help.

It is not the government's duty to give her either. 

It certainly isn't practical for the government to destroy her already nearly ruined life and make a situation whereby she - or no one close to her - can help her. 

What happens when she goes to prison? Her life is ruined because she won't be able to reform and get a job and return to society. What happens if she gets help or rehabilitation? Then she may be able to get her life in order and return to society as a productive individual.

Ruining her life and making her a liability and guest of the state and tax payers helps no one.

These laws need to change.




Comment Guidelines: Comments should be succinct, constructive and relevant to the story. We encourage engaging, diverse and meaningful commentary. Comments that include personal attacks, racial, religious, or ethnic slurs are not permitted. We continuously review and remove any inappropriate comments

Porn Filmed in Japanese McDonald's? I'm Rubbin' It!

You cannot make this stuff up:

Porn filmed in Japanese McDonald's? I'm rubbin' it!

McDonald's customers suspected something amiss when one guy pulled out his whopper. They knew for sure when he began partaking of fur burger. The upshot was four people trying to make an adult movie in a fast food outlet ended up getting arrested, says Friday (5/2).

Arrested in the case earlier this month for indecent exposure and obstruction of business were Kunikazu Ishii, 52, the director, Nahoko Shimada, 21, an actress and dental nurse, and actors Yuya Ochiai, 29, and Makoto Nishizumi.

Nahoko Shimada 
- "Hold the Mayo!"
-"I got your 'secret sauce' right here!" - Mike 

Saitama Prefectural Police say the four spent about 30 minutes one afternoon in January this year filming an adult movie in the McDonald's Higashi Matsuyama Itoyokado outlet in Higashi Matsuyama, Saitama Prefecture. They were allegedly caught after another customer called the police and told cops what was supposedly going on.

"(Shimada) came into the restaurant holding hands with Ochiai. But Ochiai didn't look the type good enough to pick up a woman like her, so I thought something fishy was going on," a customer in the store at the time of the incident tells Friday. "It was even more suspicious because there was one young woman surrounded by all those much older guys."

The group apparently took up a corner counter not easily visible to serving staff and went about their purportedly pornographic proclivities.

Ochiai apparently spent the time with his hands up Shimada's skirt as he displayed his deft handiwork, Ishii did the filming and Nishizumi acted as a barrier and barked out orders to participants -- so the cops say, anyway.

When police did arrive on the scene, the group had allegedly been filming inside the restaurant for about half an hour. Each of the four suspects was led away individually and taken to a nearby cop station in a different patrol car.

Adult movie experts say the arrests are a sign of the times.

"Filming that way is basically like screaming out to the cops: 'Hey, come and arrest me,'" an industry insider tells Friday.

An adult movie production company associate adds his two bits.

"They probably did something that stupid because they wanted to cut production costs," the associate says.

"Putting the actress's wages aside, 10 years ago most cheap adult movies had a budget of about 1 million yen, but now that figure is more likely to be 500,000 yen or, in really bad cases, only around 300,000 yen. If you've only got 300,000 yen to work with, there'll be no room to book a studio or hotel room once you've rented the filming equipment and paid the guys' wages. So that's probably why they filmed in the fast food restaurant."

Most adult movie actresses are usually the highest paid workers on each flick. Though that was likely to have been the case with this movie, too, starlet Shimada was hardly likely to have been raking in big bucks (at least in cash terms).

"Women acting in these cheap adult flicks usually get paid around 70,000 yen per movie, but some may only get as little as 20,000 yen. Nearly all the women who act in these kinds of movies have a real job and do it as a sideline. There are nurses, stage actresses and members of the Self-Defense Forces," the associate tells Friday.

"Shimada's main job was a dental nurse. She only started appearing in a few adult movies from December last year, so she's basically a complete amateur. Now she's been arrested, her chosen part-time profession has ended up costing her quite a lot." (By Ryann Connell)

Link 

Married in Japan at 16? Fine. In Porn Movies at 16? You're Under Arrest!

Tokyo Reporter has another one from the "You've Got to be Kidding Me!" files that just goes to show how the government wastes our tax money on ridiculous crap. It seems that a Japanese Adult Video company president has been arrested for employing a 16-year-old woman to star in porn films.

I have written before about how one Japanese woman makes $3 million (USD) a year as a porn actress and is the #7 highest paid porn star in the entire world! With things like that going on, no wonder anyone would consider a job in the porn industry.

Hell, I'd love it if my daughter was making $3 million dollars a year!

Shukkan Jitsuwa "Weekly Truth" 

From Tokyo Reporter:

The arrest of an AV president for employing the acting services of a teenage girl is sending shock waves through Japan’s porn industry, reports weekly tabloid Shukan Jitsuwa (Oct. 28).

On October 7, Tokyo Metropolitan Police collared the president and a manager of an AV (that is, adult video) production house, located in Bunkyo Ward, for violating prostitution and pornography statutes regarding child welfare following revelations that a 16-year-old girl was recruited by the firm to star in multiple porn DVDs.

The weekly explains that in January the president placed classified ads on mobile phone sites for recruitment purposes and subsequently brokered a deal with a 16-year-old from Chiba Prefecture.

"Violating prostitution and pornography statutes..." In Japan? I'm shocked! Shocked, I tell you! It seems that this girl was doing well as a porn actress and making good money. The Tokyo Reporter continues:

In four months, Hanakiren-chan), as was her working name, made 19 films and garnered quite a following in a number of genres. 

Hanakiren

The actress had an apartment arranged by the production company and appeared to be living quite an extravagant existence — a far cry from her days of hanging out in the entertainment districts of Chiba City and Funabashi after finishing middle school in April of last year, continues the weekly.

“But once she started gaining popularity, speculation about her age began,” explains a local beat writer. “Then, all of a sudden, she disappeared without a trace. Not long thereafter her friend called a child pornography hot line, and that’s what lead to the arrests.”

Reading the above one can deduce that there are many girls of this girl's age who are applying their trade all over Japan. This is true. In this particular case, this girl got famous and then the police decided to take notice. It can also be deduced, from this article, that this girl was "working" in Chiba's pink section way before she ever got a chance to be in a video. Why don't the police do something about that? 


Only a fool would think that there are no 15 or 16 year olds hanging out and giving services at these "Pink Sections" all around Japan..


Oh, I forgot... They are too busy keeping Japan safe by giving out traffic tickets.

I don't want to make too many comments about this, but, in a country where it is legal for 16-year-olds to get married, I wonder why it is illegal for them to appear in porno movies? 

It's just more hypocritical nonsense and a waste of taxpayers money that the police are out "screwing around" with this nonsense. I'm sure that this girl's morals weren't destroyed because of a contract... Her problems (if you want to be judgmental and call them that) began at home not at an adult video company.

This is nonsense.

Why Japanese Baseball is So Popular: Bikini Idol Throws Out the First Pitch

Why baseball is so popular in Japan. Bikini Idol Aki Hoshino throws out the first pitch in very low-cut top.

Tata Cars and "Tatas" (Porn) - Hooters! Comes to Japan

What do Tata automobiles have to do with "tatas" (women's breasts)? They are related to the economic decline of Japan. Read on....

Well, one of my good friends, Neil Bevin of Springboard KK. had told me the other day that my blog was really beginning to be depressing because of all the bad news... Well, sorry, Neil, my friend, but I have to call them as I see them.

I love Japan and want to live no where else, but things sure seem to be going to hell in a hand basket really quick recently when it comes to the economy and I don't see where things are getting better. One of my other good friends, Ira Hata of Bali Energy, strongly agrees with many Japan pundits who wrote to me about my blog complaining how upper Japanese management has sold their company future down the river in order to save their own retirement pensions saying,

"You can blame this mentality on the US who's ideals have been poisoning Japanese business values for years, Mike. Heck, the concept of life-time employment (a famous symbol of Japanese business practice) went down the toilet in the early 90's. Japan has lost it's ideals, values, and identity. She should give up and become the 51st State of the US..."

It might come as some surprise to many but there are a lot of Japanese people who agree with this kind of thinking and I am not so sure that they are wrong.

What's the point? Look at this first quick article across my desk this morning made me throw my hands in the air. It talks about how India is about to surpass Japan as the largest small car maker in the world.

From Business Standard:

India aims to become the small car hub of the world by dethroning Japan, the biggest maker of compact cars, a majority of which is consumed domestically. Last year, it had pipped Brazil to become the second-largest producer of such cars. While Japan produced 3.4 million small cars between January and December in 2009, India manufactured 1.48 million units in the same period. According to a top official from Tata Motors, the country's biggest vehicle maker, India would certainly become the biggest manufacturer of compact, fuel-efficient cars, as there is a growing demand for such versatile cars worldwide.


It might seem like a stretch for me to use this as a comparison of Japan versus the USA when it comes to a loss of competitiveness (which is actually the key to all of Japan's economic problems - besides having a government that spends and spends like there's no tomorrow). But this next article really made me wonder "What the heck?"


From the Independent UK:


HOOTERS COMES TO JAPAN

The first Japanese outlet of the risque Hooters chain will arrive in Tokyo on October 25, with more than 20 of the restaurant's trademark scantily clad waiting staff to welcome American franchise owner Coby Brooks and a long list of Japanese celebrities on opening night. Tokyo is a crowded market for restaurants, with overseas franchises such as the Hard Rock Cafe and TGI Friday's already well-established here, but manager Mark Imacho believes Hooters has a very different sort of night out.

In Japan, we already have one of the most racy and wildest sex industries in the entire world.... We don't need an American "Denny's" type of restaurant bringing porn to the masses... Trust that we already have tons of this sort of thing in Japan without having a chain restaurant bringing the same sort of low-brow "entertainment" in - especially a low-class American operation like Hooters!


Or is this just another part of bringing so-called "American Culture" to the world. Call me a prude, but, this sort of decadence is not needed.

We need solid industry... We don't need more sex industry, gambling, or this sort of thing.

At Over $3 Million Dollars a Year a Japanese Woman Makes "Top 7 Richest Porn Stars in the World"

By Mike in Tokyo Rogers,

Well, I don't usually write about things like this on my blog, but when I saw this come across my desk, I just had to. This blog has to do with pornography and Japan's porn industry. Well, not the entire industry exactly, but a particular actress.

Her stage name is Maria Takagi and she is Japan's highest paid porn actress. In fact, she is in the Top 7 Richest Porn Stars in the World listing.

Normally, writing about this sort of thing would not interest me too much (of course, watching them is a different story!) but today's information just blew my mind.

For so many years, I thought that the porn actresses appeared in a few movies to make a few thousand dollars cash, then disappear into oblivion. How wrong I was!

Get this: Maria Takagi makes ¥300 million yen a year. Folks, that is about $3.3 million US dollars a year!

And here all this time I thought the porn industry was a back room few thousands dollars a movie business... How wrong I was!

From the article:


Maria, aka Rika Inoue, followed the well-trodden and timeless route to Asian porn stardom: schoolgirl —> teen pop idol —> porn starlet. Today she’s reached the dizzy position of Japan’s most famous and highest paid adult star, and believe us, there’s plenty of healthy competition. Her deal with production company, Max A, is for a whopping 300 million yen, which is around $2.6 million. But just to show you that porn isn’t all smut and sleaze, especially as far as the Japanese are concerned, Maria scooped the award for ‘Best Conversation’ in 2003. Yes, that’s an official Japanese porn award. Anyway, would we take up a life of all-day sex and wild parties for $2.6 million dollars a year, you ask? Yes. Yes we would.


Uh, guys, at today's dollar / yen rate, that's $3.3 million US dollars a year!


From Spluch.

----------

Keywords: Porn, Japanese porn, Marketing Japan, Mike Rogers, Japanese porn star, Maria Takagi, Rika Inoue, Japanese porn award, Mike in Tokyo Rogers